Jordan Di Marco was pet-sitting a wiggly, energetic dachshund in Boulder, when the dog stepped on a bee. Suddenly, the dog seemed to be moving in slow motion. Her body froze. Her gums went pale. The dog was in shock and having an allergic reaction to the sting.

Luckily, Di Marco knew what to do. She called the owner, immediately brought the dog to the vet and gave the dog Benadryl to treat the reaction. If she had not recognized the signs of an emergency, the dog could have died on her watch.

From stings to snake bites to accidental poisonings, there are many medical surprises that can pop up when you're a pet-owner -- or a pet-sitter. And treating a sick or injured animal is not the same as treating a human.

For starters, the animal cannot explain what happened. As the responsible party, this can be frightening.

That's why the first step in Di Marco's Pet First Aid and CPR courses is to stay calm. The second is to assess the animal -- and the environment -- to try to piece together as much information as possible for the vet.

Advertisement

"It's not just about being prepared for emergencies. It's really about knowing what's normal for your pet, so if there's a lump or bump or scrape, you can effectively treat it," Di Marco says. "We teach what to do in the moments between when you discover something and when you get to the vet's office."

Di Marco, of Broomfield, the owner of Dogma Catma Pet Sitting, is a certified Pet Tech Instructor. She is trained in pet first aid and CPR, as well as disaster preparedness for pets. She can help evacuate animals in a wildfire.

She teaches two pet CPR courses at the Longmont Humane Society on the first Saturday of every month: a four-hour basic first aid course for $89, and an eight-hour "Pet Saver" class for $125.

Participants learn rescue breathing, how to conduct a "snout-to-tail" assessment for injury, how to assess an animal's vital signs, how to restrain and muzzle a pet that's in pain, canine and feline CPR, "choking management," dental care and even how to care for senior "pet-izens."

That latter topic was especially relevant to Boulder woman, Danae Patterson. She initially became pet CPR-certified for her former job as a pet-sitter -- and then she adopted a 10- to 12-year-old cat last summer.

As a first-time pet-owner, she says it was helpful to know what was normal for her older cat, and what to look out for.

"A lot of people want to have pets for companionship, but it's not like having a kid, where the health care industry has outlined all of these steps: when to get immunizations, when to go in for a checkup," Patterson says. "But you are taking on this living creature. You're committing yourself to its care. You have certain duties you need to fill, and at the very least, it could just make you more aware."

Patterson, who is also certified in first aid for humans, says she was surprised to learn how careful you must be to conduct CPR on a small dog or cat, to prevent damaging its lungs.

She says she was also surprised to learn about different kinds of houseplants that are toxic to cats.

"Especially in Boulder, there's a culture to take your pets everywhere, and pets have a high profile," Patterson says. "People care a lot about them -- but they're still animals. They have different care requirements from people and children."

Since opening her pet-sitting business in 2006, Di Marco says she has fortunately never needed to conduct mouth-to-snout on one of her clients or her own pets, Zelda the basset hound or Tevra the tabby.

But she can share a long list of times she has used the other first aid methods that she teaches. An injured stray dog wandered onto her campground last summer and it needed to be cleaned up. A nervous dog who opened a door and chewed on its owner's medication.

"I just want to be prepared for any instances that might come up," Di Marco says.

Pet Tech is a comprehensive pet CPR organization that is based off of vet protocol, Di Marco says. She says there is only a handful of options to learn pet CPR in Colorado, and some of her clients drive for hours to attend.

"We took that program and made it accessible to the average pet owner," she says. "We dovetail and support what vets do."

Did you know:

According to Di Marco's Pet Tech courses:

Lillies are extremely toxic to cats. Even just nibbling on the leaves can cause kidney failure.

Sugar-free gum can poison a dog, even gum stuck on the street. Pay attention to what your dog finds outside.

There are several different methods of CPR for pets, based on their size and shape. Barrel-chested dogs, like bulldogs, respond better to CPR administered when they're lying on their back instead of their side, due to the placement of the heart.

The Heimlich maneuver does not work on a choking animal like it does on a human.

You can download the Pet Saver app for $4.99 to get a refresher on some of the information taught in the class. Fill out an emergency checklist and phone numbers, so if you end up in an emergency, you can easily access that info and the steps of what to do, in case you forget.

Although there are a seemingly endless number of things that can go wrong, your response ultimately comes down to three choices. If the dog has a heartbeat and is breathing, but isn't doing well, conduct first aid. If the animal has a heartbeat but isn't breathing, that's a sign of choking; conduct "rescue breathing." If the animal has no heart beat and isn't breathing, conduct CPR.

Simplifying it like this can help you focus in an emergency and makes the stress more manageable, Di Marco says.

Boulder is pretty good at producing rock bands, and by "rock," we mean the in-your-face, guitar-heavy, leather-clad variety — you know, the good kind. For a prime example, look no farther than BANDITS. Full Story